Hockey of Interest
by Firecracker9
Summary: Basically a POI NHL au, where Shaw has pretty much adopted Gen, and all of Team Machine plays for the NY mas and Shaw occasionally have sex, but we all know that Shaw's heart belongs to Root!
1. Chapter 1

**I don't even know what this is. I just had the idea because I play hockey, and I thought Shaw would be a total badass NHL player. I hope it's as fun to read as it was to write! I'm not sure how many chapters there will be of this, at least two or three, but I would love comments and suggestions!**

Shouting and the clattering of sticks against ice echoes in the rink as Sameen Shaw takes a gulp from her water bottle. She unscrewes the cap and pours some water on her head, slicking back the strands of hair that have come loose from her ponytail. Groaning, she turns to look at her teammates. "Come on, guys, we've beat Detroit before, we can do it again! They just got a few lucky shots, but we're gonna get 'em back!" "That's right." One of the defenseman, Harold Finch, speaks up. "You're doing exceptionally, Fusco." "Thanks, glasses." The team's goalie, Lionel Fusco, smacks Sameen with his stick and points to Harold. "See, why can't you be this nice, Shaw?" "Suck it up, Fusco. I'm not a naturally nice person, just ask Gen." Fusco snorts as he throws his water bottle behind the bench. "Yeah, poor kid, has to live with you. I admire her courage." Shaw rolls her eyes as her teammates laugh at her expense. "Don't worry, Sam." Finch's defensive partner, Root, has somehow snuck up behind her and slings her arms around Sameen's shoulders; her hot breath tickles Shaw's neck, making her stomach feel all weird and floaty. That seems to happen a lot when Root's around, and Sameen's fucking pissed about it. Fucking Root with her wavy hair and lavender body wash and fucking giraffe legs. "Who's worried?" Shaw says defensively, shrugging Root's warm arms off of her shoulders and turning her attention back to the rest of the team. "All right, enough chatter, focus on the game!" The team's manager and coach, Zoe Morgan, speaks up authoritatively. "Shaw, Reese, Carter, you're up. Give 'em hell." Shaw and her linemates nod and head back out on the rink as the ref blows his whistle.

Sameen throws herself on the bench in the locker room, groaning as she stretches out her sore muscles. Root throws her a glance that is entirely too flirty for Shaw's taste, and leans into Shaw's personal space with a seductive smile. "Having trouble stretching, Sam? I could help you with that, you know." Shaw rolls her eyes and shoves Root roughly back to her side of the bench. "Fuck off, Root." Root just laughs and leans down to untie her laces, making sure to show off her ass as she does so. Shaw forces herself to look away as she peels her sweaty jersey off and throws it in her bag slightly harder than necessary. Her shoulder pads and elbow pads follow, until she is wearing nothing on her top half except her black sports bra. She yanks her skates off and is busy throwing her shin pads and socks into the bag when she feels Root's eyes on her. "See something you like, Root?" Joss asks with a knowing smirk, nodding to Shaw in her sports bra and boyshorts, as she combs through her sweaty hair with her hands, shaking it out. Root merely smirks and moves closer to Shaw, unable to keep her eyes off of her muscled arms and her round ass. "Knock it off, Root, I can feel you undressing me with your eyes." Shaw grumbles. "Fucking pervert." She adds as she grabs a hair tie from the bench. Root leans in so close that their noses are practically touching, and whispers, "Whatever you say, sweetie." Shaw backs up to the other side of the bench and pulls her black t-shirt on, throws her water bottle into her bag and yanks her jeans on as quickly as she can so Root doesn't get another fucking chance to ogle her naked body at the showers. Sameen will just shower at home, for all she cares. She texts Gen quickly to let her know she's on her way home as she stands up and throws her bag over her shoulder and leaves Root and her big brown eyes and long, slender legs behind to finish undressing along with Joss.

Sameen is just pulling into the driveway of the apartment when her phone beeps, alerting her to an incoming text. It's from Tomas, a simple: _hey, want to blow off some steam?_. Sameen considers for a moment, before shrugging and texting back: _your place or mine?_ She pockets her phone and enters the apartment, shaking her head as she spots the unlocked door. How many times has she reminded Gen that if she wants to stay at home alone while Shaw is at a game, that she has to lock the door! Sameen walks toward Gen's room, throwing her hockey bag onto the floor in the living room as she goes. She checks her phone and sees Tomas's response, sighing at his suggestion of a nearby bar. She hates having sex in bars, it's always in either a bathroom or a cramped booth, not very comfortable, and she feels like she has to have a time limit when she's there, because of the kid, and so then she worries and has to call Joss or John to check in on her while Shaw is off having mind blowing sex with the Detroit defenseman. She texts back: _be there in twenty, have to check on my kid._ At this point her life revolves around several things: hockey, Gen, food, and sex. And Harold's dog Bear, probably. She fucking loves that dog more than all of her silly-ass friends combined. Sameen walks into Gen's room to the blasting of music coming out of the kid's speakers. Gen herself looks to be absorbed in scribbling in some sort of notebook, so invested in her task that she doesn't notice Shaw's presence until Shaw unplugs the speaker abruptly and the whole room falls silent. Gen looks up suddenly with an indignant cry. "Shaw! What the hell!" Shaw smacks the kid on the back of the head and shakes her head. "Really, kid? You don't lock the door, and you don't even keep an ear out for intruders? If you're not going to take the necessary precautions when you're home alone, then you're going to have to come along to games and wait for me there. I've told you plenty of times, _lock the freaking door_!" Shaw's not sure when becoming a parent became so fucking stressful, but she wishes that one of the boys had clued her in on how exhausting all of it is. She's pretty sure that Harold and John hadn't seemed this worn out after adopting Leila, and even Lionel seems to do better than she's doing! In her defense, it's harder than it looks. She has to keep the kid clothed, fed, happy, and take her to school and hockey practice and all of that shit. And that's not even counting all of the teenage angst she has to deal with. Shaw's apartment has practically transformed into a cesspool of brooding adolescent hormones and drama, and she doesn't have the energy to deal with any of it on her _best_ days. Gen starts her tirade of usual excuses, of _oh Shaw, I'm sorry, I forgot, honest_ and _I won't forget next time!_ Sameen doesn't have the patience, so she interrupts with a simple, "I'm going out, Harold will come by to check on you." Gen nods, looking relieved to have escaped the impending lecture, and Shaw texts Harold quickly, asking him to come and look in, maybe make some dinner. She's grabbing her coat and hurrying out the door when Harold texts back an affirmative, and Sameen pockets her phone, satisfied, and heads out to the bar down the street.


	2. Chapter 2

Gen likes to think she's pretty observant. She notices things that most people assume she doesn't, the things they think she is too young to notice. When she lived with her mom in Russia, she saw how her mother's hands shook in fear when she clutched her teacup. She saw how the other tenants in the apartment watched her mother with expressions of thinly veiled disgust, with contempt for her political views. Gen noticed the disdain on the police officer's face as he pushed her mother into the police car, the sirens still going as Gen watched from behind a building as the protestors were rounded up. She remembers the condescension on his face as he spotted her, and the rough way he grabbed her shoulder as he led her to the police station. She remembers the relief on her grandfather's face when she saw him at the airport, and noticed the subtle way in which he placed his body between her and the strangers surrounding them. She noticed the impatience on Vadim's face as he gestured to the room with the spare bed. She remembers seeing strange men come to the apartment at all hours of the night, and she remembers how high Vadim was after they left. She's always noticed the little things, the significant things that helped her make sense of the world around her. She notices now that Shaw is still sweaty from the game, hair loose and the collar of her coat is pulled up to her chin. Gen concludes that Shaw left the locker room early, instead of showering and coming home a bit later. She's been doing that more and more lately, and Gen feels that it's only natural to be worried. Besides, it's way more interesting to do some investigating than to finish her poem for English class. Therefore, she concludes, it's only natural to activate the bug she planted in Shaw's phone a few months ago, for insurance purposes, of course. Shaw's been pretty cool so far, and Gen has her own room and stuff, and Shaw hasn't brought drug dealers home like Vadim, but bad things happen. A girl's gotta be prepared. It takes a few minutes, but Gen eventually manages to turn on the bug remotely from her computer, and activates the mic on Shaw's phone. The sounds of grunting and moaning echo out of her computer's speakers, and Gen's face turns beet red when she recognizes Shaw's voice. "Fuck, Tomas, fuck, _right there_!" Gen immediately mutes her speakers and shuts down the tracker as quickly as possible. Okay, so apparently when Shaw says she's 'going out' it's to have sex. Good to know. Gen's fourteen, she knows what sex is; she and Shaw have muddled their way through several truly _painful_ conversations about safe sex and not being pressured into it before you're ready and all that jazz (apparently Harold told Shaw that he thought that was something the two of them should probably discuss, when Gen was going into high school). Gen can be mature about this; she can ignore it and pretend it never happened, and go back to scribbling down more god-awful lines for the poem she's supposed to write. Or, she can make sure that Shaw doesn't stray from the carefully calculated romance plan Gen has set into place for her life. Gen has to make sure that Shaw doesn't hook up with Tomas. Shaw can't be with Tomas, it's unthinkable! It's so clear to Gen that Shaw belongs with Root. After all, she is frequently the buffer between their sexual tension at team celebrations. It's a dark and uncertain time, definitely a time for drastic measures. After a few minutes of googling _what to do when your mom hooks up with the wrong person_ and _how to successfully play matchmaker_ , Gen makes the executive decision that she has to call a meeting of her fellow Shoot shippers into action, immediately! Gen spins around in her chair and types a furious email to John, her fingers clacking over the keyboard with newfound determination.

 **To: TheManInTheSuit**

 **From: SpyChick1.0**

 **Subject: OPERATION SHOOT**

 **John,**

 **We have an urgent situation! The Shoot Ship is in desperate waters! We need to have a Team Shoot meeting and gather all of our supporters for an emergency plan, ASAP! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Gen**

Gen sits back as she sent the email and after waiting a few minutes, lo and behold, a new email enters her inbox.

 **To: SpyChick1.0**

 **From: TheManInTheSuit**

 **Re: Subject: OPERATION SHOOT**

 **What's going on? Harold was just about to come over to check on you. You didn't set the house on fire, did you?**

 **John**

Gen sighs. Typical John. He and Shaw don't talk a whole lot; they prefer to keep to themselves. There's a reason NHL commentators and many of the team members call them the Mayhem Twins. They don't talk much, but they kick ass out on the rink, which is way more important than being particularly verbose, Gen thinks.

Shaw walks up to the front door, wrapping her coat more tightly around her torso in the hopes that Gen won't notice her ripped shirt. She and Tomas got a little over enthusiastic at one point, and he ripped her t-shirt in half. Fuck, and it was new, too. Fucking Tomas. Shaw lets herself in with her key, pleased that Gen at least remembered to lock the door this time. She enters the living room with a sigh, dropping her jacket on the couch and heading upstairs. She quickly slips into her bedroom for a shower, and comes out of the bedroom five minutes later in gray sweatpants and a black tank top, and walks up to Gen's bedroom.

Just as Gen's about to reply, there is a knock on her door as Shaw walks in. "Hey, kiddo, how's it going?" Gen spins around, startled, slamming her laptop closed as quickly as possible, lest Shaw see how Gen was planning her love life in great detail. "Shaw!" she squeaks, assuming her best 'I'm totally innocent' expression. "You're back! From, uh, being away!" _Nailed it._ Gen thinks triumphantly. Shaw's brow furrows in suspicion. "Okay, kid, what the hell is going on?" "W-why would you think something's going on?" Gen asks, cautiously looking at the poster on the wall behind Shaw. Shaw sighs and rubs her temples tiredly. "Never mind." She says as she leaves, and Gen distinctly hears her mutter something that sounds a lot like, "Fucking teenage angst." Gen likes to think that she's defending the honor of the whole teenage species by yelling at Shaw's retreating back, "I'm not angsty!" "Whatever." Comes Shaw's reply as she exits the room, shaking her head. The second she leaves, Gen dramatically spins in her chair to turn back to her computer and type out a hasty reply.

 **To: TheManInTheSuit**

 **From: SpyChick1.0**

 **Re: Subject: OPERATION SHOOT**

 **SHAW HAD SEX WITH TOMAS! THIS IS A DESPERATE SITUATION! WE NEED A TEAM SHOOT MEETING!**

 **Gen**

 **P.S. Yeah, Shaw just came back after like forty five minutes. FROM HAVING SEX WITH TOMAS! Like I said, urgent situation.**

 **To: SpyChick1.0**

 **From: TheManInTheSuit**

 **Re: Subject: OPERATION SHOOT**

 **It's probably no big deal. You know how Shaw is, she sleeps with a lot of people, but it doesn't mean anything. Actually, maybe you don't…Never mind.**

 **John**

 **To: TheManInTheSuit**

 **From: SpyChick1.0**

 **Re: Subject: OPERATION SHOOT**

 **What the hell, dude? Bleaching brain, bleaching brain! Anyway, I propose we meet at your house. If we do it at my place, Shaw will ask questions. Tomorrow after practice good?**

 **Gen**

 **To: SpyChick1.0**

 **From: TheManInTheSuit**

 **Re: Subject: OPERATION SHOOT**

 **That will work fine, just tell Shaw you're coming to babysit Leila.**

 **John**

That's a smart excuse, Gen thinks. Harold and John ask her to babysit a lot, anyway. She quickly types out a group email to all of the members of Team Shoot that she has recruited.

 **To: TheManInTheSuit , ZoeMorgan , HackerInGlasses , LionelFusco , NypdBossLady ,**

 **From: SpyChick1.0**

 **Subject: Important mandatory meeting**

 **ATTENTION TEAM SHOOT! There will be an urgent meeting after practice tomorrow at John and Harold's house to discuss important Operation Team Shoot development. BE THERE OR I WILL HUNT EACH OF YOU DOWN PERSONALLY!**

 **Thank you,**

 **Gen**

There, Gen thinks as she leans back in her desk chair. This will be the first actual team meeting since Gen and John formed the club and convinced Harold, Joss and Zoe to join. It wasn't that hard to get them to join, since everyone was tired of the constant unresolved sexual tension. Plus, Gen and John like to spy on people. So there was that. Gen likes to think of herself as the captain of the Shoot Ship, and no, despite Fusco's accusations, she didn't just want to be the captain so that she can take all of the credit when they successfully get those two idiots together. Enough chitchat, she thinks decisively. Gen is the captain, and she must begin take action immediately to fix this disastrous situation. The logical first step is to draw diagrams and charts outlining why Shaw's happiness potential is significantly higher with Root than with Tomas. The second step will be to come up with a plausible plan to get Shoot together. Time to get to work.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, so I meant to update this a long time ago, but life has been so crazy, I have a new girlfriend but we live four hours apart so we're trying to make long distance work, while trying to keep up with school and everything else...I don't know when the next update will be, because I have hiking trips and camps and family visiting pretty much until the end of July. I am not giving up on this story, however! I want to keep writing on this au, and there has been so much support for this story it's motivating me to keep going. Anyway, please leave a review, I'd love to hear opinions and if anyone has any prompts, I'd love to hear them!**

The sun should never be allowed to shine so fucking early in the morning, Shaw decides. Especially not on her day off. Shaw groans and tries to block out the sun's rays with a pillow over her head. Fuck, why can't she just sleep in! Just as she thinks she can maybe start to ignore the sun, her bedroom door is thrown open and it hits the wall loudly with a bang. "Shaw! Shaw! You were supposed to give me a ride to school today!" Gen exclaims, running over to the bed and yanking the pillow out of Shaw's reach. "Take the damn bus." Shaw says irritably, turning into the pillow to protect her eyes from the harsh sunlight. "I can't, today's only a half day, remember? The buses aren't running." Shaw groans in frustration, sitting up with a huff. "Fine, fine. Have you eaten yet?" "Yeeeesss." Gen draws the word out. "I'm all ready to go, I was waiting on you!" "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, I'm coming, don't blow a fuse, kid." Shaw gets up, grabs a muffin from the kitchen, and jumps in the car still in her pajamas and with the muffin between her teeth. Gen frowns disapprovingly and throws Shaw the keys from the passenger seat. "Come _on_ , Shaw, I have to be there on time!" "Whussdebigdeel?" she says, her mouth full of muffin. "I have a test today, and it starts earlier! Hurry up!" Shaw looks at her with narrowed eyes as she chews and swallows. "A test?" She says suspiciously, looking for any signs pointing to Gen's body being inhabited by aliens. It's the only explanation for this strange phenomenon, after all. "You're never this excited for a test, shouldn't you be trying to get out of this?" "Uh, well, I need a good grade for this one or I won't pass math." Gen says sheepishly. Shaw rolls her eyes. ' _That sounds more like the kid I know_.'

She drives Gen to the school and drops her off, before parking in the school parking lot, staring at Gen's retreating back. ' _She's acting strange lately'._ Shaw thinks back on the kid's behavior the last day or two, and Shaw's suspicious activity alert is ringing. Normally Gen pesters her for information about the team, and chats up a storm about the latest gossip from her school, but last night she didn't say anything, just ate her soup and ran back to her bedroom, where she's been tying away on her computer and hiding the screen when Shaw walks past. Shaw had ignored it, figuring that as long as the cops don't show up, her kid's fine, but maybe she should have paid more attention. She sighs and puts the car back in drive before pulling out of the parking lot. It's her day off, so she might as well walk the two blocks to the rink to practice some and spend her day there before picking Gen up from school.

She throws her bag over her shoulder and starts walking. She heads into the rink and stretches in the locker room before starting to get dressed. She pulls her tank top over her head and is putting her shoulder pads on when the bane of Shaw's existence walks through the door. " _Root."_ She growls, crossing her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling exposed in only her tank top, shoulder pads, and boyshorts. "Hey Sameen, how's my beautiful girl doing?" Shaw scowls and chucks her elbow pad at Root. "Shut the fuck up, Root. What are you doing here anyway? This is my practice time." Root smirks and throws her bag on the floor next to Shaw's bag. "I decided to come and work on my shot. Besides, I heard you were going to be here, and I couldn't resist coming to admire your, _personality._ " Her eyes glide over Shaw's exposed arms and stomach muscles, traveling down to the curve of her ass as Shaw turns away quickly, grabbing her shin pads. "Stop ogling me, Root, for fuck's sake, just get dressed." Root shoots her a dazzling smile and pulls her Harry Potter t-shirt off in one fluid motion. She shakes out her hair and exaggerates unbuttoning the button of her skinny jeans, slowly peeling them off of her long legs and setting them on the bench next to her. Shaw thinks she should get a damn gold medal for ignoring the sight of Root in her black lace bra and black panties, her hair loose down her back, her brown eyes locked on Sameen's…okay, maybe she's not ignoring Root as much as she'd like to believe, but who can blame her? Root's fucking hot, okay? If she wasn't such a smart ass, Shaw probably would've fucked her already. She averts her eyes quickly, reaching for her jersey, because fuck it, she's not giving Root any more leverage over her. If she ogles that woman too much, she'll never hear the end of it. She swears she can feel Root's smirk, and does her best to finish getting dressed. She hears a rustling sound behind her and sighs in relief as she hears the sound of Root pulling her shoulder pads on and tightening the straps. Sameen pulls her skates on and ties them, and quickly grabs her helmet before high-tailing it out of the locker room. There is a time to stay and fight, and there is a time to flee from extreme danger. Shaw's watched enough action movies to know these basic survival skills. She spends about five minutes doing warm up drills before Root skates out onto the ice in Shaw's direction. Shaw does her best to ignore the other woman as she practices on the net next to Shaw's. Luckily, Root doesn't say anything while they practice, either because she's focusing on her shooting or because she knows Shaw's had enough of Root ignoring her boundaries for one day. Just as Shaw is finishing up her practice and putting her pucks away in the bucket, she spots Gen by the bench, tapping away on her phone. Shaw rolls her eyes before skating over, and she unlocks the door and steps onto the bench. "Hey kid, you done already?" Gen barely looks up from her phone and answers nonchalantly, "Yep. I came to ask if you can drop me off at John and Harold's. They need me to babysit again." Shaw frowns as she pulls her helmet off, shaking out her ponytail. "Again? I thought their date night was Tuesday." Gen rolls her eyes and adopts her signature expression of condescension that Shaw's becoming all too familiar with lately. Dammit, she shouldn't have let Gen hang out with Root unsupervised. One hour with that crazy chick and Gen comes back with the 'you petty humans are all beneath me' attitude down pat. Shaw swears that they were practicing winking and smirking in the mirror right before she got back. Not that Root can wink properly. No, she just winks with one eye closed and the other half open, like she's closing her eyes to take a fucking nap. It's not even that she can't wink properly, or that she's teaching Shaw's kid how to wink and smirk, it's that Root honestly thinks that she can wink. But whatever, Shaw doesn't care. She doesn't fucking _care_ , okay? "John wanted to show Harold some nerd convention that was in town, and they couldn't take Leila." Gen's voice pulls Shaw out of her thoughts, and she frowns and takes a long sip of water. "Fine, get your stuff, I'll be out in five."

Shaw pulls up in the driveway of John and Harold's house, squinting at Gen suspiciously as the kid says a hurried goodbye before sprinting to the door. Shaw waits a moment before confirming that the boys have let her in so that she can drive home. She needs a good beer and a steak to take her mind off of Root. She can't give in to her charm, she has to stay strong in the face of Root's flirtations. Plus, she's pretty sure that everyone on the team is betting on when Root and Shaw will hook up, and Shaw is not prepared to let John or anyone else win any fucking money based on who she fucks and when. She sighs and plants herself on the couch with a beer and a leftover steak heated in the microwave before reaching for the remote and turning on the Playoffs game. Just as she settles in, her phone chimes with a text lighting up her screen. She groans when she reads it. ' _Sam, thought we were meeting up? Waiting at our spot.'_ Tomas. Fucking Tomas. Shaw decides she doesn't have the energy to deal with him right now, so she turns her phone off again and throws it on the floor so that any further texts from him can be ignored in peace. She just wants to watch the fucking game now, and she can't be bothered to text Tomas back just because he's getting clingy. She is so done, with all of it. Shaw takes a bite out of her steak and focuses on the television screen, trying to ignore the tiny part of her that whisperes that the reason Tomas is starting to annoy her is because Root would probably be much nicer to fuck. She shuts down that train of thought quickly and takes a long sip of beer, puts her feet up on the coffee table and ignores the rest of the world, even if it's only for a few short hours.


End file.
